Chapter 70: The Impostor

Gune strolled leisurely, admiring the snowflakes dancing in the sky.

At the same time, he was considering what to eat for dinner.

A thin, crimson glow gently descended, permeating every corner of the city of Sugg Ruins.

Gune stopped in his tracks.

Strolling idly, Gune had unknowingly arrived at the entrance of Old Stone Street.

Seeing the familiar intersection before him, Gune couldn't help but smile.

These past few days, Gune had been going to the Antucon District to stay in Deep爵 Castle; today, without realizing it, he had followed the old path to Old Stone Street.

"I haven't seen Old Dad for several days. I'll go visit him today."

Gune stepped forward, about to cross the street.

Clop, clop, clop...

The rapid sound of hooves came.

In the heavy snow, a carriage sped toward him.

Gune didn't try to race the carriage; instead, he withdrew his step.

Clop, clop...

The hoofbeats gradually slowed, and finally, the carriage stopped in front of Gune.

The carriage door opened.

What met his eyes was Black Luo, dressed in a deep blue mage robe and cloak.

"Black Luo?" Gune was slightly startled.

"Aren't you... already on your way to the family estate?"

"Get in." Without responding to Gune's words, Black Luo said succinctly.

Gune hesitated for a moment, then climbed the carriage steps and entered.

Just as the upper half of Gune's body entered the carriage interior,

Gune's body suddenly stiffened; he sensed something amiss.

But Gune was clever; he smoothly turned his body and sat down opposite Black Luo.

Then, Black Luo closed the carriage door, sealing off the wind and snow outside.

Inside the carriage, it was very dim—an environment difficult for a normal person to see clearly, but for Gune, he could discern every detail.

Black Luo lowered her head, as if lost in thought.

And Gune was in no hurry to break the silence.

Gently rubbing his right thumb and middle finger together, Gune seemed to be calculating something.

After a full four or five minutes, feeling it was about time, Gune finally spoke slowly.

"Where are we going?" Gune's voice was calm and clear, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

"Taking you to a place to meet someone." Black Luo's voice was crisp, with its usual hint of fragility.

"Who?"

"You'll know when we get there."

"Huh..."

After a soft exhale, Gune gently pulled aside the curtain.

Outside the window, the tall domed buildings on both sides of the road were gone, replaced by scattered low huts and wild grass.

The carriage had already entered the suburbs.

Drawing the curtain, Gune looked again at Black Luo sitting across from him and spoke slowly, his tone very gentle.

"You know what?"

"Once, a girl hugged me and said someone wanted to kill me."

"After she said that to me, she didn't realize how terrifying those words were, nor how much she had revealed. She was naively innocent." Gune shook his head with a smile.

"From those words, I already guessed that her family might have some connection to certain mysterious forces."

"I didn't report her, nor did I investigate her much, because I knew she was a good girl."

"Because I knew she would leave the city of Sugg Ruins and go somewhere safe."

"I didn't want her to be in danger."

"But..."

Gune's tone began to turn eerie, also somewhat ethereal.

As Gune slowly raised his head, a blood-red hue gradually emerged in his eyes.

"Now it seems my wishful thinking was too naive."

"Once caught in this great tide, who can stay out of it, who can easily control their own fate?"

Listening to Gune's words,

Black Luo, sitting opposite Gune, struggled slightly but remained motionless like a wooden statue.

"I guess she's under your control now, right?"

As Gune said this,

Black Luo across from him trembled slightly, her face full of fear and struggling terror.

"Although you are almost identical to her—figure, appearance, tone, movements—all impeccable, enough to pass for the real one."

"But you are not her after all."

Gune leaned in and whispered softly into the ear of that 'Black Luo.'

"I still remember her scent."

"Pure and clear, unstained, innocent like a shy flower just blooming."

"But you, from every pore of your body, emit a nauseating stench of decadence and lewdness."

"A fallen dark elf?"

"Disguising yourself as a pure and flawless maiden—that must have been hard on you."

A strange smile curled at the corner of Gune's mouth.

At this moment, the livid-faced Black Luo seemed to be gritting her teeth, struggling desperately.

"Stop struggling." Gune's voice was like a ghost.

"You can't escape."

At this moment, in Gune's perception,

the shadow 'impostor' disguised as Black Luo before him

was already firmly controlled by twenty puppet threads.

Moreover, the entire carriage compartment had been completely isolated from the outside by Gune's deployed puppet threads.

When Gune entered the carriage,

he had already sensed that this 'Black Luo' before him was a shadow 'impostor.'

Impostors are a major branch of the shadow system.

They are naturally adept at various supernatural abilities of concealment and transformation.

They can change appearance, form, aura, and even disguise their soul.

Some high-level impostors can even disguise themselves as plants or animals.

They can even alter their body size to an exaggerated extent.

It is said that powerful shadow disguise masters can turn into tiny flowers, mice, cockroaches, and so on.

Shadow impostors are among the most troublesome supernaturals for the Supernatural Association.

If it weren't for Gune's cultivation of the Bone Element Potion Secret Incantation, which gave him a fine discrimination of scents, and the severing of many fate shackles granting him deeper insight,

Gune would have found it hard to detect that this 'Black Luo' was an impostor.

After all, at first glance, he really thought she was Black Luo.

After realizing she was an impostor disguised as 'Black Luo,'

Gune maintained silence with her while secretly casting 'Puppet Threads' to control her.

Puppet Threads are inherently a very covert functional spell, with excellent concealment.

If Puppet Threads were at level two or even three, Gune wouldn't have worried about being detected.

But at only level one, there was a chance the target would notice.

Gune had to take a gamble.

Fortunately, this third-rank shadow impostor's extrasensory perception wasn't as high as Gune had imagined.

This shadow 'impostor' didn't detect Gune's puppet threads.

Since she didn't notice, everything was easy.

While controlling her with numerous puppet threads, Gune completely isolated the carriage interior from the outside.

At this point, her life and death were entirely in his hands.

After all, Puppet Threads is a high-rank spell, and at first rank, it had undergone one transformative upgrade.

Gune estimated that five or six puppet threads would be enough to control her tightly.

But to be safe, Gune increased the number of puppet threads to twenty, plus five or six enveloping the carriage. This consumed most of his source energy.

High-rank spells are powerful, but the consumption is equally enormous.